[Dataloss] .jp: Aflac Reports Laptop Detailing 152, 000 Clients Stolen

[security curmudgeon]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: InfoSec News <alerts at infosecnews.org>

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=afw8zxz12Koo

By Hugh Son
July 26, 2007

(Bloomberg) -- Aflac Inc., the world's largest seller of supplemental 
health insurance, said a laptop containing information on 152,000 
customers in Japan was stolen from an employee of an insurance agency 
there.

The laptop contained the clients' names, addresses, birth dates, and 
policy details, according to Laura Kane, a spokeswoman at Aflac's 
headquarters in Columbus, Georgia. It was used by a worker of Tokyo-based 
Tsusan Company and stolen on a commuter train July 17. Aflac wanted to 
send letters apologizing to policyholders before alerting the press, she 
said.

``All the information was encrypted and password-protected, so it would be 
very difficult for any third-party to access it,'' Kane said today. 
``Obviously we've reported this to the police and they are making every 
effort to find the missing laptop.''

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